


Presence

by Theoroark



Series: Nobody's Fault [3]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Regret, Suicidal Ideation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-10
Updated: 2017-10-10
Packaged: 2019-01-15 16:34:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12324768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theoroark/pseuds/Theoroark
Summary: Jack did not hallucinate Ana after her death. That would be silly, the kind of thing a bad TV show would pull after they wrote out a fan favorite. And he had not believed in ghosts since he was a child.But still, Ana had been by his side for decades, always there to turn to no matter what happened. He could not quite imagine how the world would continue without her. And so as he sat down on his bed the night after the funeral, he found himself talking to her.





	Presence

Jack did not hallucinate Ana after her death. That would be silly, the kind of thing a bad TV show would pull after they wrote out a fan favorite. And he had not believed in ghosts since he was a child.

 

But still, Ana had been by his side for decades, always there to turn to no matter what happened. He could not quite imagine how the world would continue without her. And so as he sat down on his bed the night after the funeral, he found himself talking to her.

 

"You were very insensitive to Fareeha," she told him.

 

She was right. He had sleep-walked through the whole service and when he had gotten up to Fareeha, who had gotten leave from the armed forces to be there, he had just mumbled something about how her mother would have been proud of her. Fareeha had nodded with a small, tight lipped smile, and Jack had subtly been ushered away so that the next mourner could offer their condolences.

 

"Should I send a card, do you think?" Jack asked. The Ana that he was not hallucinating rolled her eyes.

 

"You two were never close. She doesn't need to deal with your ego, on top of everything else right now."

 

She was right, again. As he was leaving, he had seen Gabe walk up to Fareeha, and say something to her with his head bowed. She had thrown her arms around him and Jack had felt an incredibly petty stab of anger and jealousy. No one had lined up to offer him their condolences. Gabe hadn't even looked at him. And he had been with Ana almost constantly his entire adult life, and Ana had spent long stretches of time away from Fareeha-

 

Ana sighed heavily and he stopped the train of thought, feeling very guilty. "She clearly loved you. Misses you," he said to her, as though that would help anything.

 

"I know," Ana said. "But you're still right. You really shouldn't be coming to me for advice on Fareeha, Jack. Clearly, I'm not very good at that."

 

He did not want Ana to think such things, so he let her slip away and fell backwards into bed and tried to sleep.

 

He spoke with her next after he had shoved Gabe out of his office and slammed the door in his face. "He's still grieving, same as you," she told him.

 

"That doesn't give him any fucking right."

 

"I'm not telling you this to excuse him, Jack. I just think you should try to understand."

 

"Of course I understand," he said savagely. "I understand because I'm dealing with the same shit he is, and then some. But I didn't go running to him, fucking blaming him and his shitty Talon intel for your death."

 

"Obviously you don't blame him at all," Ana said drily. Jack glared at his desk.

 

"It doesn't matter. None of this matters. None of it changes that you're gone."

 

"Okay," Ana said. "Then go talk to him. Try to be there for him, like you want him to be there for you."

 

Jack remained sitting at his desk, and this time Ana let herself out.

 

She had always been there whenever he needed her, and so she showed up as he came to in the rubble of the Swiss headquarters. He jolted upright and gasped from the pain of his broken ribs and she said, "Careful."

 

He got to his hands and knees slowly and looked around. He did not see Gabe anywhere. "Did I kill him?" he whispered.

 

The Ana that was not a ghost shrugged. "Probably," she said. "Take care of your face. It's all fucked up and I don't want you to lose an eye."

 

The med bay was nearby and so he staggered there and got out a needle and stitched his face up, ignoring how Ana judged his barbaric medical practice. When it was all set, he looked around. "The door was open when I came in," he told Ana. "And it looks like someone's been in here already. Equipment's missing. That could have been Gabe."

 

"More likely, it was one of his lackeys raiding the place before they left," Ana said.

 

"Dr. Ziegler was here today... yesterday... I don't know. She wouldn't have put up with that. It could still be Gabe."

 

"Why is this such a thing with you?" Ana asked impatiently. "Last you saw him, you had shoved him towards a fucking explosion. Usually people don't do that unless they're pretty sure they want that person dead."

 

"I'm still here," he said quietly. Ana's nonexistent stare fell heavy on his shoulders.

 

"Did you want to die, then? Do you want to die now?"

 

"I just don't know how to live with both of you gone," Jack said.

 

Ana considered that, and then told him, "People will be coming soon. If you want to be dead, you need to leave here now."

 

Jack left.

 

She stayed by his side as he fell, as he covered his face and cut all his tethers and became Soldier: 76. He almost felt bad dragging her down with him in this way, and would feel worse if he could figure out what he had made her into. She was not a hallucination, he told himself as he debated with her about Helix or Los Muertos or Gabe or whatever she had chosen to weigh in on. She was not a ghost. He had just always worked best when she had been there to talk to, to advise him. He had always worked best when he knew that no matter what happened, he had someone in his corner. He had always worked best when he had someone to love.

 

The fact of the matter was, he had always worked with her in his world, and he could not see himself continuing without her, and so she remained.

 

The last time he spoke to her was when he saw the wanted poster for the Shrike. He had stared at the text, the cluster of attacks in Egypt, the sniper rifle, the assassinations of arms dealers and Talon personnel. The mask. He touched his own absentmindedly.

 

"They never found my body," Ana said.

 

"I don't want to get my hopes up just to lose you again," he told her, but he got no response.

**Author's Note:**

> I'd written a fic about Ana & Gabe and an R76 fic, so this only felt right. Especially since I do love their friendship.
> 
> I'm @tacticalgrandma on tumblr, if you want to talk there!
> 
> Thanks so much for reading, and any comments or kudos would mean the world to me <3


End file.
